The Illustrated Bullet Journal

I’d like to begin with a thank you to Ryder for creating this bullet journal system, without which I would have not found this incredible community of people, and I’m so honored to have this opportunity to write about and to share my bullet journal with all of you.

About Me

Hello! My name is Sarah, and I’m a bullet journalist and hand letterer. I’m a current Computer Science student, and although my studies are very technologically based, I find that the art of lettering, journaling, and planning by hand shouldn’t be something that is ever lost.

My Bullet Journal Story

I first found out about bullet journals this past September through the recommended section on YouTube. The title read “August Flip-Through,” the thumbnail was of an ordinary-looking notebook, and for the life of me, I could not understand why that warranted a 15 minute long video. Five minutes in, I was hooked. I began researching the best pens, notebooks, and materials, reading blogs that reviewed and compared various supplies, and within a couple of hours, I had ordered a Leuchtturm journal, a set of Staedtler Triplus Fineliners, and they were on their way.

Why I Love Bullet Journaling

Bullet Journaling has made me more organized, more productive, and more positive — all the while allowing me to be infinitely more creative. The flexibility of the system allows you to add whatever spreads you want, drawing inspiration from any type of style, adapting to fit whatever needs and goals you may have. Whether you want to be more minimal, more colorful, or more decorative, there are so many great sources of knowledge in the bullet journaling community.

Prior to bullet journaling, I was focused on lettering and calligraphy, but when I wanted to just letter a quote, I had nowhere to do it and no way to keeping it in-line with that time in my life. I would just have sheets of lettered quotes with no significance other than the fact that at one point, that quote somehow resonated with me. Bullet journaling is an organizational system that welcomes personal creativity to be built straight into it, and your planner can become a piece of art in it of itself.

Walkthrough

Cover

Future log

Anything and everything in the future goes into this spread — from finals schedules to movie premieres that I’m excited for! The dates that I note down don’t necessarily need to be in order because I just use this spread as a reference for when I set up my monthly overview, which is more in-depth and organized.

Monthly overview

I keep my monthly overview pretty simple because most of my tasks, goals, projects tend to find their own spread if they’re extensive enough. I also always come up with a monthly goal — usually something that I want to work on or a piece of encouragement.

Workout tracker

This is my one and only tracker, which is not something you generally hear from a “bullet journalist,” but it’s the only one I think I really need! The notes section allows you to see what workouts you did on each day, so you know to diversify your workouts if you see that you’re getting into a rut.

I’ve noticed that most people are intimidated by the sheer volume of trackers that a lot of bullet journalists keep up with, but if you do not think a workout tracker — or any other tracker — will help you be more productive or achieve your goals, don’t feel pressured to add it!

Weekly Spread

Because I’m a student, my weekly spreads are very minimalistic to maximize space with an added “Due” flag for every weekday where I can list everything that is due by that day. The “Future” section allows me to jot down any future dates that can then be transferred when I set up for the next week.

Lettering

Finally, a lot of the appeal of 1. a dot-paged journal and 2. an extremely flexible journal system is due to my love of lettering and quotes. I cannot express how much I now love dotted pages — they’re cleaner than the harsh lines of a grid page and provide more guidance than a plain page. Interspersed between the pages of planning in my journal, I like to add lettered quotes or sayings that usually reflect how I’m feeling.

Gear

About Sarah Zhou

About Sarah Zhou
Sarah is a bullet journalist and hand-letterer, documenting her work on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/luckyletters/). She hopes to inspire others to adapt the Bullet Journal system by demonstrating its flexibility and limitless creative potential.

Yes!! I’m so happy to hear that!! I hear too many people say that they’re intimidated of the whole system, but honestly it’s just what you make of it. I hope your bullet journal helps you as much as it has for me! 🙂

kiss2222

Sarah, where can I find your journal spreads that people are talking about?

I love how clean and simple your bullet journal is. The simplicity really allows the focus to be on your beautiful lettering.

After trying trackers, I decided that I didn’t need them. It is time consuming to list all my habits on my dailies, but I’m more motivated to get them done that way. Writing them each day actually helps me to see them in conjunction with my other daily obligations and organize my day better. Plus, I like to have my bullet journal open to my current day without much flipping to other pages.

Thank you!! I actually didn’t even attempt to do a habit tracker when I started bullet journaling because I knew I wouldn’t be able to keep up with it, so props to you for maintaining that on a day-to-day basis.

I like the way you’ve set up your Bullet Journal. I’ve been at it for a little over a year, and while I love it, I still have the occasional struggle with what I want it to be. I especially like your monthly overview, and may have to try mine that way at some point. Silly question – what kind of white-out pen do you like best?

Hi Jayne! I just use the classic Bic Wite-out pens 🙂 All of the supplies have Amazon links, so if you just click on it, it’ll direct you to the exact products that I use.

kiss2222

I am into flourishing my journal with rubber stampin’ and my own designs. This way I am apt to stay interested. I love all the journals I have seen so far, but enjoy the individuality the most! I hope to learn more along my journey!!

Jenny Leverson

Simply beautiful! I am writing a few articles on this I will link them below. My daughter and I are in love with all things BUJO! @Lulaeducate @onelittlehippo
As an academic coach I see huge value in this productivity re-invented mentality. I am also becoming an official ADD certified Coach, with @ADDCoachAcademy. Thank you for sharing! I used this within my article and will tag your creativity.